#746

Reading Rivers of London. Honestly not sure what to make of it. It’s fun enough but it feels like a book that I’d have really enjoyed 20 years ago (it is already 10 years old) and now it just feels sort of overly smug on a certain level. Basically it’s not going to be hard to finish but I can tell I won’t remember anything about it when it’s done.

2 Likes
#747

Hot take

All books should be the same size

See @hankscorpio’s post there? Very pleasing.

Any books not of that size should be pulped or incinerated immediately

5 Likes
#748

I fully support this take.

#749

I got that for Christmas. It was perfectly acceptable pulpy nonsense. I didn’t feel it was trying to be anything it wasn’t.

#750

Also, the practice of releasing hardbacks before paperbacks should be abolished. Both should be released at the same time, to reduce the injury rates caused by people dropping hardbacks on their faces when reading in bed. Plus they’re a bastard to read comfortably.

6 Likes
#751

Abolish hardbacks altogether imo

4 Likes
#752

Yeah I didn’t mean to imply it thought a lot of itself by ‘smug’, more that it just feels like at no point was any critical self-analysis done, I guess. Not a wildly original concept even then and just, I dunno, it never seems to consider that it could take some risks.

#753

I actually looked into this custom very recently and, basically, publishing economics make it impossible. Sorry, I don’t make the rules. Can’t stand hardbacks.

1 Like
#754

I just assumed they could sell the softbacks at hard back prices when they first arrive. Just put them out alongside the hardbacks at that same price then you could buy if you wanted to at a premium. It worked for albums for all those years.

Anyway, this is a massive driver to my having gone into ebooks, just ditching the hard back nonsense completely.

#755

Get what you mean, I read that a couple of months ago. Realised it’s a series and have actually ordered the second book, just for something light and fun to read and to see if the series is worth sticking with I guess.

Anyway — finished Elmet. I lived a lot of things about it, but could have done with more editing in places. 4/5.

Might go Frankenstein next as I got that super pretty hardcover edition in the post! Never actually read the book before :scream: Love using this time to catch up on things

1 Like
#756

I’ve done similar. Still read paperbacks, but probably read on my Kindle mostly - especially appreciate it when reading 500+ page books. And the ability to read in bed easily with the light off when gf is asleep is great.

2 Likes
#757

I really want to read Frankenstein. A guy on a FB group read it last year and said it was by far the best book he read that year (and he managed 52) and he was very surprised and impressed.

1 Like
#758

I’m also reading the tree book

2 Likes
#760

Doesn’t work apparently. For the big publishers.

The revenues generated from hardback/premium product sales (because of the mark up at the price point) are what bankroll the publishing industry I guess, so we should all be grateful for them. I tend to buy books in paperback second hand anyway so it’s not a huge problem for me personally.

#761

But I mean surely a paperback costs less to make and you don’t need a separate thing of reformatting etc, you just sell your normal paperback for 25 quid RRP instead of the hardback.

#762

I dunno maybe the big publishers DO have their long-established business models all totally wrong

#763

I read an article that suggested that some publishers were looking at doing things a bit differently in terms of starting with paperbacks, but in a slightly bigger format (as apparently one of the important benefits is hardbacks standing out more in shop windows).

I don’t know much about it, but with stuff like this, I always think if they have a paperback come out at a normal paperback price at the start, more people are likely to take a punt on it, meaning higher sales + more word of mouth generation (if the books any good). I know I’ve only ever bought hardbacks if it’s an author I know and love and am too excited to hold on until the paperback is released (though I’d just get the ebook these days). Wouldn’t usually take a punt on a new (to me) author in hardback. Weird with stuff like this - not sure if it’s a case of “it’s always been this way” and publishers are too scared to deviate.

I think smaller independent publishers are less likely to put hardbacks out. Galley Beggars don’t normally. They put out limited edition paperbacks for initial release at a slightly higher price and then a standard one.

1 Like
#764

Re reading wild swans, love that book

2 Likes
#765

Maybe there is a herd mentality aspect. Like if you were Penguin you wouldn’t want to take the lead with shoving out new releases in paperback first. But I’m guessing the most logical reason is that the bean counters at the publishing houses know what they’re doing.

1 Like
#766

lots of smaller publishers do things slightly differently and tend to follow standard practices a bit less, though I special edition hardbacks are fairly common for quite a few of them… like the galley press way, but in hardback

things that work on small scales won’t necessarily work on large scales and if enough people are still buying hardbacks there’s no reason for them to deviate… I don’t buy them mostly but I’m generally in favour, they are much nicer as objects

1 Like